Artificial Heartbeat
by Mirika
Summary: AU. Tsubasa Chronicle x Chobits crossover. Fay is a persocom for Sakura, a child from a rich family who lives down the street from Syaoran, a swordsman's apprentice with a dark, brooding persocom of his own. Fay keeps his feelings to himself, after all, artificial beings can't feel this way right? How could be the special one for him, anyway? KuroFay.
1. Prologue

Even standing still, the dust in the warehouse fell to gingerly meet his golden synthetic hair. His hands cradled the memory chip, still as a statue while he stared vacantly down to it. Tears did not come. Only a hollow smile against his lips. He had entered the warehouse hours ago in search for the obsolete material; the warehouse was the storage location for such devices. The rest of the persocom had been deleted. Or rather, destroyed. All that was left was the memory chip that had once been lodged inside the persocom's head. The head of his dear, dear friend.

He was now dead.

The blonde standing in the middle of the empty storage house was almost lifeless, unmoving for at least an hour as he held the piece of hardware. Whenever he tried to compute what mode of motion he should do next, his processors remained blank. In his mind, a single cursor kept blinking, awaiting his ones and zeros. Nothing came. Nothing except his own memory drives bringing forth all those artificial sights and feelings he had experienced with the persocom whose chip he held so delicately. Finally, reviewing those memories of his own, he decided what to do, despite it not making much sense to an artificial mind.

"Ano ne." He said, his chipper voice ringing in the corridor. He corrected himself, knowing Japanese would be lost on the persocom now. So he spoke his own language (that for which shall be translated now).

"You know," He started over. "It's going to be really hard to make fun of you now."

A whistle through the cracks in the wall answered him. The blonde sighed. It was a shaky, wet sigh that to humans would be accompanied by tears. For him, it was simply a shaky, wet sigh. Even as a human, he would not have cried.

"I mean, I could call you Kuro-chip, but for some reason, that just makes my internal drives stress that much harder." He said, looking to the ceiling. "Didn't someone tell us that's the same thing as a human's heart hurting? My chest cavity feels so tight. Like a sponge soaking up all the dirty dishwater. Only there's no hand to squeeze the water back out."

He looked back down to the little piece, and his vision blurred. Nothing could make him take his hands away from the memory chip, so he simply looked at the hardware through tears. Tears, something his owner had finally upgraded into his state-of-the-art body frame. Tears, the last thing to make him the greatest fake human ever. Even his ears could change to mimic a human's. And lastly, it was his tears that made him pass for one. He promised himself he wouldn't need to use them, since they were mostly for teasing the one who was now passed, but for some inexplicable reason they wouldn't stop coming.

"Kuro-sama, what do I do now?" He said, his vocal processors straining to get the words out. "I can't stand this feeling. Should I just have Sakura-chan erase it? The memories are so painful to revisit. Or should I have Syaoran-kun try to fix you again? He could fix you I know, but… what you said to me last…"

His eyes fell to the ground, staring at the fallen saline water. "Kuro-san, your last words… how can you make me accept that you wanted this…? How could anyone be okay with death?"

His hands finally closed around the chip, like a morning glory flower closing in the evening dusk. He brought his hands to his chest, holding the chip the close. His eyes closed, and he could feel more saline escaping his artificial tear ducts to run down his synthetic cheeks, to land on his clasped knuckles. He stood there for a long time, perhaps another hour, before he finally felt his internal processor computing a resolve that he hadn't felt before. A new emotion that he had yet to unlock within his CPU, he now felt overwhelming amounts of.

"Kuro-chi, you will come back. Your memory chip is all I need to bring you back, and I have it now. Your body, your wounds, your accident. None of it matters now, because this in my hands is all I need to have you back." He closed his eyes and smiled down to his hands.

"Just you wait; you'll be noogeying me in no time."

* * *

So here I crawl from the depths of hell to bring you the fan fiction I had been contemplating for YEARSSSSSS. Now that I feel my writing is a little more sophisticated and I have a better spell check, I shall attempt writing it. Due to my poor computer lingo, please be reminded I am an artist and a writer, not a computer technician. I know some things, but I am no genius. Lol

In any case, thank you for writing! I have fan art of these two on dA, so please check me out there too! My username there is mirika-rin, so come find me! Yoroshiku ne~


	2. Chapter one: A Phone Call

I was going to upload it a few days ago when I finished this chapter, but fanfiction was down and I couldn't do it. So here it is!

* * *

Chilly was the day despite the clear skies, and silent was the large house she resided in. Her fingers deftly folded laundry on her bed, a chore normally left for her housemaids. For some reason, she felt the need to do such a mundane task on her own. Her schoolwork had been finished and it was still another hour before she would visit Syaoran on the picnic, so she needed something to keep herself busy. Otherwise she'd be thinking about Syaoran-kun, and her cheeks would burn so badly she could only roll about on her bed squealing.

When she reached the bottom of the basket, her cell phone started ringing. This particular cell phone was white and fluffy, and the red gem upon its forehead would blink with every trill of the ringtone. Said cell phone bounced from her dresser drawers to stand on her bed in front of her, lifting up a fuzzy paw to salute her.

"Sakura-chan! Mokona has a call for you! Answer? It's from Syaoran-kun!" The fuzzy cell phone sang out, and Sakura's cheeks soon matched the color of Mokona's gem.

"A-answer, if you would be so kind." She said daintily, and smiled as the hologram soon projected itself against her wall. The face that soon came into view was that of her friend, Syaoran; his was a face of secrets and calm composure, but also a very young face that had much to learn. This time he had a bandage on his nose, probably from where his master had struck him with the wooden sword.

"Good afternoon, my lady." Syaoran said, his politeness not lost through the mechanical buzz of reverb.

"How many times do I have to say it? Call me Sakura." She replied, laughing at his obviously embarrassed reaction. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your call, Syaoran-kun?"

"…" Syaoran's face molded back into his normal resolve, a dark brooding glance that made Sakura uneasy.

"What is it?" She repeated, this time a little quieter.

"Fay-san."

Sakura tensed. Ever since the accident, her persocom had been fine, at least in appearance. She knew, of course, he was just putting on a face. Somehow, her own computerized humanoid had found a way to hide his artificial emotions from his owners, and somehow Sakura could see right through it. Sometimes she would wake up to see Fay staring at the ceiling, such pain written on his face that it made her cry just from looking at him. And she knew exactly why.

Even to this day that Sakura had been folding laundry, people did not think that computers could generate their own emotions. Even with artificial intelligence matching that of sci-fi movies from the twenty-first century, a few millennia ago, people are still closed-minded as to think robots cannot truly feel, truly think, truly love.

Fay proved this to be true for Sakura. She knew for a fact that he loved. And she knew for a fact that the one he loved was now dead.

Her hands clinched in her lap, her eyes returning to focus on her crush. "…What's wrong with Fay-chan?"

"He's been to the warehouse again." Syaoran said, his eyes closing. "I caught him on footage this time breaking the lock. I don't think we have a choice anymore. Fay-san knows about death and he understands that which has died cannot come back, but I believe he has it in his mind that if he has the memory chip of… of him, he'll be able to bring him back from the dead. Like nothing happened."

"In theory it would be fine…" Sakura said hollowly, sadly, thinking of her persocom digging through the thousands of crates in the warehouse of which they spoke. It would explain his disappearances from time to time, for sure. She sighed and folded her fingers together.

"…but it wouldn't be him." Syaoran finished, casting his eyes downward. "Fay-san doesn't know, does he?"

Sakura shook her head and closed her eyes. "I didn't have the heart to tell him. Fay-chan… he has no idea that that memory chip…"

She heard the door creak ever so slightly, and her head turned to the noise. The electronic man of which they spoke was now frozen in the doorway, eyes wide with alert and hands clutched tightly to his chest. Sakura could see the dusty powder in his hair and the dirt caked on his knees and hands. She ceased her conversation immediately, telling Syaoran she would see him at the park in an hour as planned. Once the call was ended, she smiled and stood to greet her persocom.

"Fay-chan, this is why I didn't want you to go. You're all dirty." She tried to say playfully, but it was strained and her smile couldn't stay up. "You have to return it, you know. That memory chip you're holding."

Fay's lips thinned, and he looked down to his hands. Under his internal law, he was supposed to abide by everything Sakura said; her word was absolute, as his owner. However, something else was screaming at him in ones and zeros to hold onto the piece of hardware, no matter what, and do whatever it took to use it as he had planned. Sakura saw this, and reached out to touch his hands gingerly. He didn't move, only dropped his eyes to the floorboards.

"Fay-chan, I know you miss him." She said softly. "I know it hurts, but he's gone…"

"No." Fay replied, a little more sharply than he intended. It made him recoil, and he finally brought his blue eyes up to her green ones. His lips curled at the ends, and despite his better judgement, he told her what was on his mind.

"I can bring Kuro-pon back." He stated firmly, to which she only frowned in reply. He dropped to his knees, one hand still clasping the chip while the other went to Sakura's dainty hand.

"Sakura-chan, please. I need you to tell me this is okay. I need you to tell me I can go through with this. I can't do anything without your consent. I need you. Kuro-rin needs you. Please, it'll be like before, we can even give him to Syaoran-kun again; I know his master is aging, but Kuro-cho could take it. He had all the top-of-the-line software on kendo…" Fay pleaded, and Sakura couldn't help but fall to her knees herself. Her arms wrapped around his neck, and she held him tightly while her face slowly dampened with hot tears. He would never learn, she thought, unless he was taught.

"Fay-chan… I will allow it…" She said softly in his ear, grimacing. "On the condition you deal with the project yourself. You need to see what you're doing, and understand for yourself. Kurogane-san…" She said, choking on the name. Fay pulled away from her, tilting his head slightly.

"Why are you crying, Sakura-chan?" He said, smiling widely. "Kuro-sama will be back again; there's no need for tears!"

Sakura could only stare, hoping she hadn't made a huge mistake.

* * *

When I first started this, I wasn't sure where it was going. Now I have a good idea of what's going on and what's going to happen. Now I just need to write it out as it comes to me! Thank you again for reading, I hope to keep you entertained! 


	3. Chapter two: Visiting the Store

Fay smiled, and for the first time since the accident, Syaoran could tell it was not fake. Strange as it was, the cybernetic man had somehow found a way to falsely portray emotions. Perhaps it was his programming telling him to make his owner happy, putting his created emotions on the backburner. Syaoran felt his lips purse, but he said nothing. Fay was a state-of-the-art persocom; Syaoran had no place to question his make, since he himself was only interested in the antique computers that still looked like plastic books you could sit in your lap.

The two of them were standing in the mechanic shop, asking for details on the make and model of Syaoran's old, destroyed persocom. Syaoran knew this was going to be futile, that the make and model was more than unacceptable for many reasons. Fay must have known it too, Syaoran was sure of it, but whenever the shop owner would come to give them more details, Fay would weasel in a few questions he had somehow simulated himself, under the guise of asking for his own owner.

Eventually the shop owner returned, shaking his head and sighing. "I'm sorry, Mr. Tsubasa, but there's no route we can take from here." He said, giving Syaoran a pitiful expression. Syaoran nodded solemnly, knowing this to be the case anyway, but Fay's smile never wavered.

"What seems to be the problem?" He asked in a silky voice, to which Syaoran could only guess what was being thinly hid underneath.

"That model is so out-of-date, it's been decommissioned for almost ten years." Said the store clerk, talking to Fay like the blonde was a human. It seemed the mechanic could not tell that the blue eyes were zooming in and out rapidly to create clear pictures in the memory banks he stored, instead of the iris expanding and dilating.

"In order for us to remake the persocom you want, we'd need the original body." The man said, handing a photograph back to the teenager. Syaoran took it and put it in his breast pocket, though he did not fail to notice Fay had stolen a somber glance at it.

"And as I've already stated, it was recycled for its parts," Syaoran replied hollowly, not liking to talk about his deceased friend like a piece of furniture. "How much would it cost to have one made to resemble this make?"

"A lot." The store owner said, sighing again. "This is a ten-year-old computer we're talking about. Antique replicas are a market of their own. Now if you wanted a newer model altered to the photograph, I could get you one that looked like it, but it wouldn't be identical."

At that, Syaoran finally saw Fay's smile slip, but only slightly, and only for a moment. The blonde was grinning ear to ear in a heartbeat.

"It has to be identical." He said in a monotone voice, one that sent shivers up the brunette's spine. There was something alarming there, and Syaoran felt the necessity to solve this problem quickly, before Fay's programming malfunctioned.

"I have an idea." Syaoran said plainly, stepping forward to hand over a business card. "I work at my father's antique computer store. I mean, antique. As in twenty-first century computers. I'd say one of those desktop computers I have to tinker with in my shop is worth thrice the price of the persocom we're trying to make. The motherboard alone would cover any price you could put on remaking the model. I would like to trade you a desktop computer, functional enough to show off in your collections room, for the price of remaking the persocom I want with upgraded functions. I want him a mixture of new and old, please."

The store clerk's eyes were rounded by the compromise, and in no time he was shaking Syaoran's hand and calling him 'sir'. Once contracts and papers were signed and agreements were made, the two of them left, Fay and Syaoran walking side by side on their way back to the Kinomoto mansion, where Sakura was waiting. On their return, Fay started to lag behind the human, only to stop completely. Syaoran halted as well, and turned to look at the persocom over his shoulder. His blue eyes were hidden underneath the brilliant locks, shining like gold in the sunlight.

"Syaoran-kun." He said softly, which made Syaoran turn to completely face him. The robot continued. "I'm sorry. I never thought you would offer up your own materials to pay for this…"

"It's okay, Fay-san." Syaoran said, and the teen lifted a hand to gently touch Fay on the upper arm, smiling softly at him. "I want to see Kurogane-san back to the way he was too. Those antique computers mean something to me, yes; but Kurogane-san is my friend. He's more than a thousand of those computers, to me."

Fay smiled sadly down to the brunette, and nodded silently. The two of them returned to walking home, and Syaoran let Fay have the hope he had given him. Syaoran's heart was a bit heavier, but he kept that to himself. After all, Syaoran knew what a wild goose chase this was.

He sighed. In any case, perhaps they could learn to love and care for the stranger that was about to come into their lives with the face of one of their closest friends.

* * *

It's easy to write for this, but it's also a bit concerning, because I feel like I'm making it way too broody. I want the CLAMP somber feelings to it, but I also want it to be readable lol. Tell me what you think C:


	4. Chapter three: The Model Arrived

It was the day of the first snowfall that year that the model was completed. Sakura had never seen such happiness in a persocom before, but Fay was practically jumping up and down when he heard the news. He politely begged to be taken to the store to pick the body up himself, but was no less enthusiastic when Sakura explained the model was waiting for him at Syaoran's warehouse. The blonde whipped around and ran out, babbling happily about getting the memory chip.

Sakura picked up her cell phone and let the fuzz-covered device sit on her shoulder. It hummed a familiar tune as she fastened her shoes into place on her feet. She patted the robot's head when she stood.

"Mokona, please call Syaoran-kun." She said, walking out of her room and down the hall, where she was shortly accompanied by Fay. A small, square screen appeared mid-air in front of her, and Mokona started trilling as the call started to go through. The screen changed from a dancing green phone to Syaoran's face in a few seconds, and she smiled automatically at seeing him.

"Syaoran-kun, may I perhaps come visit? Fay-san desires to see the model and I would like to join him. Perhaps we can have tea when I get there?" She said lightly, to which the boy nodded.

"Of course, Sakura-chan. Your company is always welcome here." He said with a soft smile, but when glancing at Fay's expression his own smile quickly fell off. Sakura knew why, and with a few quick words of parting, she hung up and hopped into the car waiting for her at the entrance of her home.

* * *

Syaoran and Sakura greeted each other warmly, Fay bowed to Syaoran, and then the young man led the way toward the warehouse. Fay was practically vibrating with excitement, and when he saw the covered model standing in the middle of the room, he ran straight to it. Without waiting for permission, the blonde yanked the cover off.

There stood Kurogane, pristine and newly made. Fay felt what he could only describe as what humans explained as his heart leaping into his throat. The noise he made was not purposeful and it confused him. Something was not computing with his programed emotions; fear, loss, ecstasy, joy, sadness, all of it was running through his files and making him produce half-words and shakiness in his hands. He slowly moved to touch the model's face, to make sure it was real and wasn't just a hallucination caused by his memory malfunctioning, when Syaoran's hand grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"A moment." Syaoran said, and Fay tilted his head.

"Syaoran-kun?"

"I am doing this to look out for you, Fay-san. Your happiness is important to me, and you are my dear friend, but I want you to know that this might not go how you want it to." He said, which made Fay tense. There was something in his expression, in Sakura's expression, that set off tiny alarms in his ears. Warnings started appearing and he turned to look at them both.

"What is it? What…" He muttered, glancing between the two of them. Sakura's hands clutched together and came up underneath her chin. She grimaced and finally came out with the information they had been hiding from him.

"His memory chip, Fay-san…" She whispered, to which Fay looked down at the black device he had been holding. It looked fine to him, and he turned it over to make sure it was fine all around. Sakura continued.

"It was wiped."

It didn't process. The information Sakura had just given him didn't process. He couldn't get his programming to accept the data, as if Sakura had just made a strange noise instead of a string of words. He couldn't take his eyes off the chip for the longest time, until finally he moved his eyes to his owner. She frowned deeper, moved closer, and finally placed her hands on his, closing his hand around the chip while meeting his eyes.

"It was wiped, Fay-san. The chip. It was an emergency function due to the line of work he was in before Syaoran-kun bought him. When the accident happened, Kurogane-san's programming wiped his chip in the few seconds he was still functioning…" She explained tediously, and Fay saw the warning lights and heard the sirens in his mind before his knees locked. He fell to sit on the ground, the sounds of all the words of encouragement Sakura and Syaoran had given him ringing in his ears. How it was going to work, how it was going to work, how it was going to work…

"All he needed was the memory chip and he would be here again…" Fay looked up to the model. The perfect replica of the persocom who had taught him how fun it was to figuratively push buttons. The spitting image of the one who had pushed the limits of a robot body to learn sword-fighting and skills. The copy of the man Fay had pushed his own limits to care so deeply about.

"So…" He managed, before feeling the saline reaction produced tears to run down his cheeks. He just stared at the model, seeing the beauty of the artificial tan skin as if for the first time. "So he's not…"

Syaoran knelt next to Fay, placing a hand on the android's shoulder. "Fay-san, we know… we know how difficult this is for you, and we didn't want to hurt you. We wanted…" He looked to Sakura again. "We wanted to provide you with a second chance, even if it might be futile. If you want, maybe… maybe we can still turn this model on, and… learn to…"

Fay covered his face, having dropped the memory card he had cherished so faithfully. He didn't want to hear it, but at the same time it lifted his heart. He looked to Syaoran and placed a hand that was on his shoulder.

"This model may not be Kuro-sama, but… maybe we can teach him to be?" He said, smiling pitifully. Syaoran and Sakura looked at one another, holding their tongues, but nodding nonetheless.

"Maybe we can learn to enjoy his company." Sakura offered, and Fay smiled a bit wider. Fay and Syaoran stood, looking at the model. Syaoran let Fay do the honors of turning the model on, and they waited with bated breath. There was a soft whirring noise, a click, and then a start-up jingle. Fay held his breath as he watched the eyelids twitch, and when they opened, they revealed classic red eyes, the eyes which Fay had known so very intimately to the point he could read the programming installed in the other persocom like it was his own. But what the model said shattered every illusion Fay had dreamed up since realizing bringing back the other perosocom was even a possibility.

"Error. Data obsolete. Error. Malfunction." And then the persocom shut off. Fay was in shock.

The voice was all wrong. It was all wrong. Everything was wrong.

Fay shut off and collapsed.

* * *

Sorry for the long wait of this chapter! I got so much on my plate that being creative is in high demand, lol. I have a knack for finding every single plot problem and creating them. I would appreciate any fix you got for me! Tell me what you think!


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